ForFor thethe PeoplePeople A N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e A b r a h a m L i n c o l n A s s o c i a t i o n Volume 3, Number 1 Spring, 2001 Springfield, Illinois

Lincoln Portraits: An Interpretive Framework by Michael Fowler * on through the years. As he discusses Gilbert Stuart to turn him into an contributions that artists and writers icon” (p. 61). Other authors refer to any American artists and have made memorializing Lincoln, second-rate painters who have writers have returned repeat- Peterson notes difficulties that portrait attempted but failed to capture what Medly through the years to artists in particular have had in captur- Lincoln’s secretary, John Nicolay, convey something of the life and char- ing Lincoln’s likeness. He says: noted even during Lincoln’s lifetime: acter of Abraham Lincoln. Biogra- “Lincoln, for better or worse, had no continued on page 3 phies, paintings, articles, sculpture, and film about the man continue unabated to the present. They record, reinterpret, memorialize, somehow re- present aspects of the great Emancipa- tor, the savior of the Union, the man of the people, or some other type or archetype. The richness and volume of interpretive production attest to the continued fascination that much of America has for this historic figure. Paintings of Lincoln are the focus of this present study. To incorporate other media, especially for the scope and intent of this research, would sim- ply be prohibitive in length and breadth. Paintings were also selected as the focus due to the artistic experi- ence of the author and because it is a familiar and approachable medium to many. It also has historically afforded a great deal of flexibility and versatility of expression for the novice as well as the professional artist, besides contain- ing the ever-attractive elements of color. But while paintings of Lincoln appear at least as varied in style and approach as are the written portraits, they have, according to some, fallen short as communicators of at least Lincoln’s likeness. Merrill D. Peter- son’s Lincoln in American Memory (1994) explores the history of Lincoln’s place in American thought and imagination. He frames his study within some of the above-mentioned archetypes, which Lincoln has taken Abraham Lincoln by George P. A. Healy (1860) 2 For the People

President’s Column by Don Tracy ebruary 12, 2001, was an espe- February in a small midwestern town! vately produced booklet of annual cially good day for Mr. Lincoln Thank you ALA members and thank Symposium papers into a semi-annual Fin Springfield. It began with a you Michael Beschloss. first-rate scholarly journal published meeting of the Lincoln Legals Adviso- One of the many distinguished by a major university press, Thomas ry Board and ended with the Battle guests at the Banquet was former Schwartz is turning the editorship Hymn of the Republic at the conclu- Governor Jim Edgar and his beautiful over to Dr. Bryon Andreasen over a sion of the Annual Banquet. Between wife, Brenda. This was Governor two-year transition. Thank you, Tom, the two, there was the groundbreaking Edgar’s fourteenth ALA Banquet in for you many years of service to the for the Lincoln Presidential Library, fifteen years, including all eight while Journal, for finding such an able suc- which can be seen on C-SPAN, and the he was governor. At the 1998 cessor, and for continuing to serve as Annual ALA Symposium. Banquet, Governor Edgar officially ALA Secretary, Newsletter Editor, and Seven score years and one day announced that the Lincoln Presiden- Symposium Chair. before, Mr. Lincoln left Springfield tial Library and Museum would, after If you have not yet renewed your never to return. Before leaving, he many years of anticipation, receive its ALA membership, you will soon gave one of his most eloquent speech- first and most important appropria- receive Molly Becker’s firm, but es, “the Farewell Address,” all three tion. Thank you Governor Edgar. charming, “now you belong to the versions of which can be found in the Comptroller Dan Hynes attended ages,” letter. Please renew now so that Collected Works. Thanks to the expert the Banquet for the second year in a we can count on your continued sup- work of Daniel Stowell of the Lincoln row. Hynes and Governor George port and interest. If you have a ques- Legal Papers and Christine Powell of Ryan are cochairs of the Illinois tion about the status of your member- the University of Michigan, the Bicentennial Commission and are ship, you can contact me via e-mail at Collected Works is now available online working with the ALA on initial plan- [email protected]. in searchable format through the ALA ning for 2009. Mark your calendars now for Web site. Thanks to Stacey McDer- I have received much and lavish February 12, 2002. As a member, you mott of the Lincoln Legal Papers, the praise for this year’s Banquet, which I will receive advance notice of the ALA Web site is now current and more hereby pass on with amplification to Banquet details and Symposium pro- complete than ever. Kim Bauer and the many dedicated directors and gram. Clarence Page has tentatively Thomas Schwartz continue to provide members who have contributed so agreed to be the Banquet speaker. the excellent content. Please check our much: Jim Patton (Banquet Chair), Allen Guelzo, Brooks Simpson, and Web site out and let us know what you Georgia Northrup (Arrangements and Lerone Bennett, Jr., have committed would like added or changed. The Seating), Thomas Schwartz (Invita- to the Symposium, and Ira Berlin has address is www.alincolnassoc.com. tion Flyer, Program & Virtual Library been invited to complete the panel. I For the second year in a row, the Report), Harlington Wood, Jr. hope to see you then, if not before. Banquet was sold out, this time sever- (Program Photographs), Richard al weeks before the reservation cutoff Mills (Lincoln the Lawyer Award Member News date. Not bad for a Monday night in Presentation), Susan Mogerman (Pres- idential Library Report), Bob Eckley ondolences are extended to the Unless otherwise indicated, (Endowment Announcement), Very families of Vernon Fernandez photographs are courtesy of the Reverend William Privette (Invocation and Abraham Lincoln Maro- Illinois State Historical Library, C & Benediction), and Greg Walbert vitz. Fernandez was a leader in the his- Springfield (Invitation Flyer design). torical community of Jacksonville, One of the many benefits of serv- Illinois, and the recognized authority For the People (ISSN 1527-2710) is ing as ALA President is the opportuni- on Jacksonville history. Abraham published four times a year and is a ty to dine with people like James B. Lincoln Marovitz was a distinguished benefit of membership of the Stewart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Illinois legislator and judge. Those Abraham Lincoln Association Michael Beschloss. All are great who attended the 1999 Abraham 1 Old State Capitol Plaza speechmakers and charming dinner Lincoln Association Banquet will Springfield, Illinois companions with interesting insights remember Judge Marovitz’s eloquent 62701 into capital issues and controversies. invocation and benediction. His pass- After thirteen years of editing the Newsletter design and layout ing at age ninety-five is a genuine loss. Journal of the Abraham Lincoln by William B. Tubbs He was everyone’s friend and a strong Association, during which time the [email protected] advocate of his namesake, Abraham Journal has evolved from a small, pri- Lincoln. For the People 3

THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN Lincoln Portraits ASSOCIATION DONALD R. TRACY An Interpretive Framework President MOLLY BECKER continued from page 1 can be described as kaleidoscopic as RICHARD E. HART the paintings “‘petrified’ some single they reflect, refract, and transmit RICHARD MILLS Vice-Presidents look, but the picture remained hard glimpses of the people and times that and cold” (Mellon, The Face of Lincoln, produced them. While some of the THOMAS F. S CHWARTZ Secretary p.6). Peterson concludes that it is the paintings of Lincoln seem dry deriva- JUDITH BARRINGER photographs and sculpture, rather tives of well known photographic Treasurer than the paintings and engravings, that poses, others are more interpretative— DAN W. B ANNISTER have “opened a window into Lincoln’s some refreshingly so. A few seem Immediate Past-President soul” (Peterson, p. 341). Indeed, clumsily drawn, and still others have Board of Directors Frederick Hill Meserve, an early lead- the decorative flair and charm of folk R-Lou Barker ing and established authority and col- art. Roger D. Bridges Michael Burlingame lector of Lincoln photographs, makes Some have written informative- Sheldon S. Cohen an even more restrictive evaluation: ly—even skillfully—about Lincoln’s John Daly “Of the countless engravings and portrayal in the visual media of pho- Brooks Davis Rodney O. Davis paintings of Lincoln, many are mere tographs, sculpture, paintings, and Robert S. Eckley caricatures. The photographs show engravings. They have emphasized Donald H. Funk him as he was” (Meserve, The the descriptive and narrative elements, Allen C. Guelzo Edith Lee Harris Photographs of Abraham Lincoln, p. and, appropriately, their historic accu- Kathryn Harris 25). racy. Few if any have written about the Norman D. Hellmers Still, when examined and inter- way the medium communicates on its Earl W. Henderson, Jr. Fred B. Hoffmann preted for what they are as art own expressive terms. This author, for Barbara Hughett objects—by the visible, attestable over twenty years a painter and Robert W. Johannsen things within the pieces themselves— instructor of art and design, argues Lewis E. Lehrman Susan Mogerman the paintings of Lincoln, completed that the way a painting is interpreted, Georgia Northrup over nearly a century and a half ago, as in any work of art, comes at least as Phillip S. Paludan though not always succeeding as faith- much from the choices the artist makes James W. Patton III Mark Plummer ful likenesses (whatever that may regarding such things as the painting’s Gerald Prokopowicz entail), do provide a viable and size and shape, the relative scale of the James A. Rawley intriguing venue for examining this subject within the format, its color Brooks D. Simpson Robert A. Stuart, Jr. man’s unique and complex appearance scheme and value range, and the kind Louise Taper and character. of painting medium used and the way John T. Trutter At another level, the paintings it is applied. The task to find meaning Andy VanMeter Margaret VanMeter considered so far in this research and merits in these portrayals of Daniel R. Weinberg include not only the work of skilled Lincoln, as in any art analysis and Robert Willard portrait artists, but also painters and interpretation, should be one ground- Douglas L. Wilson Kenneth J. Winkle illustrators known for their work in ed at least in the ingredients of the Honorary Directors other genre. Landscape painter Mars- work itself (Barnet, A Short Guide to Governor George H. Ryan den Hartley of the Stieglitz Group in Writing About Art, 2000). The viewer Senator Richard Durbin the earlier part of this century and can thus be guided to the painting’s Senator Peter Fitzgerald Congressman Ray LaHood illustrator Norman Rockwell some meaning by acknowledging these visi- Congressman John Shimkus forty years later have portrayed evoca- ble elements. The author also reminds Mayor Karen Hasara tive Lincolns. Those who have pur- that while such an interpretation is not The Honorable Rita Garman sued professions in music and poli- necessarily definitive, at least dialog Emeritus Directors Willard Bunn, Jr. tics—Woody Guthrie and Dwight about it can be based on its visual John R. Chapin Eisenhower, to name two—have also components (Feldman, Varieties of Cullom Davis felt the need to weigh in by painting at Visual Experience, 1992). Irving Dilliard James Myers least one portrait of this American This article represents initial Sally Schanbacher icon. research on the subject. The author Distinguished Directors Such a collection of images, when has viewed firsthand over eighty paint- Mario M. Cuomo presented thematically, chronological- ings with Abraham Lincoln as the David Herbert Donald ly, or according to some other schema main subject—paintings in more than John Hope Franklin Garry Wills should also contribute to the viewing a dozen collections at as many sites. interest. Collectively these paintings continued on page 6 4 For the People

The 2001 Abraham Lincoln Association Banquet

ince 1963, the Abraham Lincoln seemingly effortless mastery of the traditional signing of the “Battle Association has celebrated the proceedings kept the evening lively Hymn of the Republic.” SFebruary 12 birth of Abraham and entertaining. The 33rd Illinois Proceeds from the Banquet fund Lincoln in his hometown of Spring- Volunteer Regiment Band provided the afternoon scholarly Symposium field, Illinois. The tradition began music. The evening ended with the and publications of the Association.

Dr. Robert S. Eckley provides guests Michael Beschloss accepts original artwork created by Greg Walbaum, who with an update on the Abraham designs the Association’s announcement brochures. Lincoln Association endowment fund. with the 1909 commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of Abra- ham Lincoln’s birth. Banquet speakers included such notables as Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute, and such political figures as William Jennings Bryan. The Associa- tion ceased activities in 1953. It was not due to lack of interest but rather the Association liquidated all of their assets to see through to publication the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, an eight-volume compilation of all of Lincoln’s writings and speeches. This year, Michael Beschloss, author and presidential historian, hon- ored the Association with his com- ments on presidential leadership. The wit and colorful anecdotes that were sprinkled throughout his thoughtful remarks did not disappoint the sellout crowd. Theodore Gertz accepts the Lincoln the Lawyer Award on behalf of his late father, Association president Donald R. civil rights lawyer Elmer Gertz, from Judge Richard Mills. Tracy presided over the festivities. His For the People 5

More Photographs from the 2001 Abraham Lincoln Association Banquet

The 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band from Pekin, Illinois, performs during Michael Beschloss signs an autograph a brief break in the ceremony. for a banquet guest

New Selection of Lincoln Titles First s a continuing service to our own distinguished career as a histori- membership, the Abraham an, completed and edited the piece. Hay-Nicolay ALincoln Association is pleased Michael Burlingame edits another col- to offer the following four titles to its lection of writings by John Hay, Dissertation members at discount prices. Three of Lincoln’s private secretary. Charles B. the four are recently released titles. Strozier’s psychobiographical study of Award Don E. Fehrenbacher died before he Abraham Lincoln reappears in a com- finished his magnum opus on slavery pletely revised and updated version. in the American Republic. Ward M. Please make all checks out to he Abraham Lincoln Associ- McAfee, who studied under Fehren- “IHPA.” Illinois residents must add ation announced that Stewart bacher before embarking upon his sales tax to their total. TWinger was the first recipient of the Hay-Nicolay Award for best dis- John Ashworth, Slavery, Capitalism, and Politics in the Antebellum Republic sertation in Lincoln studies. Winger Retail: $23.95 ALA Price: $20.50 IL sales tax: $1.49 studied at the University of Chicago under the direction of Martin E. Michael Burlingame, At Lincoln’s Side: John Hay’s Civil War Correspondence and Marty. Winger’s dissertation, “Lin- Selected Writings coln’s Religious Rhetoric: American Retail: $39.95 ALA Price: $32.00 IL sales tax: $2.32 Romanticism and the Antislavery Impulse,” is under publication consid- Don E. Fehrenbacher and Ward M. McAfee, The Slaveholding Republic: An eration by Northern Illinois University Account of the United States Government’s Relations to Slavery Press. Winger, in attendance as one of Retail: $35.00 ALA Price: $28.00 IL sales tax: $2.03 the featured symposium speakers, went home with a $5,000 check. He Charles B. Strozier, Lincoln’s Quest for Union: A Psychological Portrait is currently a visiting scholar at the Retail: $18.95 ALA Price: $15.25 IL sales tax: 1.11 continued on page 8 6 For the People

Lincoln Portraits: An Interpretive Framework

continued from page 3 skillful build-up of translucent color tively record the topography of the For each, he has written a descriptive glazes. This indirect painting method, face. Any bravado of the artist’s brush analysis, recording a physical descrip- a traditional approach brought for- would be out of place here. tion and writing summary notes of But the subject is not overly grand impressions while in the painting’s or immaculate. It is made approach- presence. The author intends to con- able as well. Lincoln’s facial expression tinue this approach as long as leads to is warmed by a relaxed expression. original paintings of the sixteenth Hazel eyes emerge from under heavy president continue to emerge. He eyelids and a stray forelock rests on hopes to accomplish at least the fol- Lincoln’s broad forehead. Hair sur- lowing as a result of his research: 1) to rounding the profile occurs in random begin a dialog about at least the wisps. Also, the warm blush across expressive meanings of these paint- nose, cheek, and ear, though a depar- ings, beginning in this article, with a ture from what contemporaries have comparative analysis of three Lincoln described as a sallow complexion, is paintings separated by time and artis- complemented by the dark, smooth, tic approach; 2) from these and other shaven area of the beard. If Healy interpretations, to explore some ways used the contemporary Hesler pho- to organize thematic concepts of these tographs as a model, they have not images for an illustrated book; 3) to enslaved him to portraying the rough begin the process toward a compre- texture of skin nor the firmly set jaw. hensive cataloging of painted images Healy has warmed and softened this of Lincoln; and 4) to receive assistance portrayal, but has stopped short of ide- in locating other paintings in public alizing the likeness. It is the combina- and private collections for possible tion of the majestic and approachable inclusion in the proposed publication. that is the chief attraction of the piece. Three paintings of Lincoln have Some fifty years later, George been selected for this comparative Handel Story, also reportedly working analysis. They were selected based on from life sketches of Lincoln but at a their range of expressive style as well as much later time in his own life, offers their depiction of Lincoln by artists a dramatically different portrayal of separated in time by over a century. the man. Story’s portrait (ca. 1915) is The analysis of each painting, though of about the same size and scale and not intended to be comprehensive, is presents what could be called a majes- intended to feature some of the more tic Lincoln as well, but his approach obvious physical attributes of the has more of a flair for the dramatic. artist’s use of color, format, shapes, Rather than a natural looking and textures that contribute to the approachable Lincoln portrayed in the expressive meaning of the piece, while context of a neutral background, Story highlighting some of the similarities presents a Lincoln carved, polished, and differences among them. and painted. Contrasts are up from Is there a more majestic, yet the previous portrait, and this Lincoln approachable, Lincoln than the one in is placed outdoors against darkened George P. A. Healy’s 1860 beardless skies. The foreboding clouds break in portrait? Some of the majesty and the distance to reveal a sun-drenched solemnity of the painting stems from Lincoln for the Defense capitol building at the lower right, the nearly life-sized presentation of the by Norman Rockwell(1962) while the stripes of a large American subject, one in which Lincoln’s head flag can be faintly perceived in the near and shoulders are set in view within a background at left. These components generous dark and neutral background © 1962 The Curtis Publishing Company are no doubt added to stir the patriot- expanse—as a jewel against dark vel- ic in the viewer. They are rendered in vet. Also, the artist has rendered ward from the earliest uses of the oil a thick, directly painted impasto, Lincoln’s face respectfully, with each painting medium, seems appropriate adding energy to the deep space of the nuance of wrinkle and fold a result of a for the mission of this artist to objec- composition. This flourish of brush- For the People 7 stroke is also one seen increasingly in twentieth-century American painting. It crosses all genres as the artist impos- es more of his individuality in the painting. The value and color extremes of the background are carried into the subject itself, with highlights and shadows of the face and shirtfront a result of sculpturally rendered effects in paint. Even the nose is scrubbed to a polished patina, with an almost pure white highlight accenting the top right edge. Portraying a memorialized Lincoln, Story has made an issue of the sixteenth president’s furrowed face—the lines appearing to be not just etched, but carved into his counte- nance for time immemorial. The gaze is dramatized as well, with eyes focused on the viewer. Their skewed alignment, as that of the nose to the prodigious and firmly set mouth, adds an idiosyncratic drama to an already energized portrayal. Story has given us an arresting portrait, bordering on the surreal, but nevertheless energized and impas- sioned from a lifetime of meditation and reflection of sketches he made dur- ing an encounter with the newly elect- ed Civil War president. In a word, drama is also an appro- priate descriptor for the last piece in this discussion. The artist, Norman Rockwell, creates a Lincoln portrait that is dramatic on a number of levels. Painted in 1962, at a time when much Abraham Lincoln by George Handel Story (ca. 1915) continued on page 8 APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Please enroll me as a member of the Mail this application (or a photo- Abraham Lincoln Association in the copy) and a check to: category indicated: The Abraham Lincoln Association 1 Old State Capitol Plaza _____ Railsplitter ...... $ 25 Springfield, Illinois _____ Postmaster ...... $ 75 62701 _____ Lawyer ...... $ 200 Name______Congressman ...... $ 500 Street ______Presidential ...... $ 1,000 City ______Web site: www.alincolnassoc.com State ______Members residing outside the U.S add $3.00 Zip ______8 For the People

Lincoln Portraits: An Interpretive Framework

continued from page 7 ened forehead, from which emerges an a more timeless Lincoln. In sum, these of America was recalling the centenni- intense gaze. Nothing rests easily in three paintings, chosen for their differ- al of the Civil War and its commander- this painting. ences in style, approach, and intent, in-chief, Lincoln for the Defense reflects Further tension is created as the begin to illustrate some of the poten- Rockwell’s interest in one of the sub- painting’s format is stretched vertically tial range of expressive meanings and ject’s earlier and more personally dra- to accommodate Lincoln’s elongated consequent enjoyment that one can matic moments. He captures the then- form. Though the overall painting gain from a guided interpretation of lawyer Lincoln in the midst of the trial measures less than four feet high, a their form. for New Salem friend and accused possible detraction from the drama murderer Duff Armstrong, here due to its smallish size, its height is *Michael Fowler is a professor of shown seated and cowering, wrists nearly four times its width. Curiously, art history at the University of South shackled and shrouded in darkened and atypical for many of Rockwell’s Carolina - Aiken. colors in the near background. illustrations, the earlier fussy paint Rockwell departs from the traditional daubs are preempted by paint irregu- First portrait format and dress, posing larly applied in tiny ribbons and Lincoln standing in white trousers and splotches of high intensity color, ener- Hay-Nicolay rolled-up shirt-sleeves, holding an gizing Lincoln’s white outfit and blue Dissertation Award almanac in his left hand (supposedly lively patterned galluses. Even these, the chief exhibit of his argument), his though removed from their supportive continued from page 5 right hand clenched and forcefully function, rest uneasily at Lincoln’s hip. American University at Cairo, Egypt. pressed against a book on the table Rockwell, in his sixth decade as illus- He and his wife are the proud parents that separates him from the defendant. trator, still in control of portrait like- of a baby girl, Claire. Tension is as much the subject here, as nesses and color and lighting effects, The Hay-Nicolay dissertation Lincoln is not only shown front and has let loose with some fireworks of award seeks to identify and reward center, but turned in a dynamic _ view the brush for this patriotic call to arms. outstanding young scholars just begin- to the left, pressed to the plane of the This Lincoln portrait, like the oth- ning their academic careers. The canvas, with the viewer’s eye level at ers in terms of possessing a unique award is a cooperative effort between his knees. From this unusual vantage presence, is unlike them in style and the Abraham Lincoln Association and point, the viewer must consequently intent. It captures a moment in the Mid-Atlantic Lincoln Studies look up to the towering form of time—one pregnant with tension and Institute. Two five thousand-dollar Lincoln in command, and, curiously, anticipation. The two previous paint- prizes will be awarded in the first year to the underside of his jutting chin and ings, in whatever degree of natural- with the prize alternating between the nose to hollows beneath a foreshort- ness, nobility, or idiosyncrasy, rendered two organizations in following years.

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